Witt's Culinary: Recipe #81: No Egg Chocolate Layer Cake with Glossy Chocolate Sour Cream Icing

I found this recipe awhile back and had never made it up until now...when I went to the fridge to get the number of eggs required, I looked again at the recipe, and surprise...no eggs. It had to be a misprint, I told myself, but after going online and doing some research, found that yes, there are some cake recipes that have no eggs. The icing also has no powdered sugar, yet it is extremely rich, which is right up my alley, and, this recipe does not require a mixer. This would not be my "go-to" cake if I wanted a super decadent devil's food or fudge layer cake, but it is nice enough, and the flavor of the cake, as well as the icing, is enhanced by the coffee. It really doesn't require anything out of the ordinary, except for, perhaps, the heavy whipping cream and the cake flour...I always have cake flour in the pantry, but even "I" don't have heavy whipping cream around on a steady basis...that would definitely be trouble...

3 1/3 cups cake flour 1 3/4 cups sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt

2 cups hot tap water 3/4 cup vegetable oil (I use canola)

2 tbsp white vinegar 1 tbsp instant coffee granules

2 tsp vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350. Always bake cakes on the center rack of your oven. Grease and flour two 8" round cake pans. Whisk together flour, white sugar, brown sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Combine water, oil, vinegar, instant coffee and vanilla in a large measuring cup. Add to the dry ingredients and whisk just until combined. Divide batter between pans then bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30-35 minutes, (you do not want to over bake). Cool cakes on racks for 10 minutes, then invert them. Cool completely before icing cakes. Bon appetit!

Glossy Chocolate Sour Cream Icing

1 stick unsalted butter 1 3/4 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream 1/4 cup regular sour cream

2 tsp instant coffee granules 2 tsp vanilla extract

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in sugar, cocoa and salt. Mixture will be thick and grainy. Combine heavy cream, sour cream and instant coffee in a large measuring cup, mixing until smooth. Gradually add cream mixture to chocolate until blended and smooth. Cook until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is smooth and hot to the touch...about 8-10 minutes. Do not boil. Off heat, add vanilla. Cool icing at room temperature until spreadable, about 2-3 hours. Since I didn't want to wait, I put the pan of icing in a large bowl of ice water and stirred constantly until it was the right consistency. Make sure your cakes are completely cooled before icing. I made the mistake of not doing that completely, and when I started to ice the cake, it started to slide. Took the second layer off and waited a little longer for the cakes to cool...